The replacement for McDonald’s in Russia has unveiled its new logo, ahead of a grand reopening on Sunday. The reopening is timed to coincide with Russia Day, celebrating the country’s independence, at the very same location in Moscow’s Pushkin Square where McDonald’s first opened in Russia in 1990.

Then it was seen as a potent symbol of the opening up of the old Soviet economy to western companies, but now more than 1,000 former McDonald’s restaurants in Russia will be part of a new chain, partly as a result of western sanctions on economic activity with Russia.

The new logo features a burger and two french fries in the shape of an M, although the name of the new brand is yet to be revealed.

Critics of the new logo have pointed out its similarity to that of the Marriott hotel chain, which operates in Russia. One person on social media described it as “the Marriott hotel logo crossed with the flag of Bangladesh”.

According to reports from Russia’s RIA Novosti news agency, the McDonald’s app in Russia has been renamed as “My Burger”. The agency was informed that this was a temporary name, to comply with the requirement to remove the McDonald’s brand.

In what will be seen as another sign of western economic sanctions impacting on the Russian economy, Reuters reports Russia’s industry ministry expects car sales to halve in 2022 as the country’s automobile industry grapples with supply issues.

Tigran Parsadanyan, deputy head of the ministry’s automotive and railway engineering department, said on Thursday: “We saw a sharp fall in April and May. We expect that some 750,000 cars will be sold on the market by the end of the year.”

That figure represents a 51% drop in sales year-on-year.